Ben Askren vs. Jake Herbert at Midlands

According to Ben Askren’s Twitter and Facebook pages, he will be having a rematch with Jake Herbert at the Midland tournament. I asked Ben if it would be in Freestyle (The style Ben qualified for the Olympics in and Jake went to the World Championships) or Folkstyle (The style NCAA wrestling uses). He replied the match would be in Folkstyle. His actual quote regarding this “super-match” is:

“And the big news is….. For old time sake Mr. Jake Herbert challenged me to a match at Midlands so we will be throwing down.”

Askren defeated Herbert in the 2006 NCAA finals 14-2. At the time, Ben was representing the University of Missouri Tigers while Herbert was wrestling for the Northwestern Wildcats. Since that match Askren has went on to compete in the 2008 Olympics, going 1-1. Ben defeated the Hungarian Istvan Vereb via fall, but fell to the Cuban Ivan Fundora. Fundora was a 2004 Olympic and 2007 World Championships Bronze medalist. MMA fans will know that Askren is currently the Bellator Welterweight Champion and 7-0 in the sport.

Jake Herbert won the 2007 and 2009 NCAA titles in Folkstyle and the Silver Medal at the 2009 World Championships in Freestyle.

There will not be weigh ins for this matchup and Askren figures he will “be weighing in the mid 180’s and Jake will be mid 190’s”.